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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22813459">So, what made you want to become a hero?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/handlewithkara/pseuds/handlewithkara'>handlewithkara</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supergirl (TV 2015)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/M, Hopeful Ending, Time Travel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 10:55:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,624</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22813459</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/handlewithkara/pseuds/handlewithkara</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mon-El returns from the future, but he doesn't remember Kara.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kara Danvers/Mon-El</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>So, what made you want to become a hero?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>English is not my first language and I don't have a beta reader :(</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They stride in like quad of goddamn superhero gunslingers. Then Winn can’t control himself. &gt;Look who I brought,&lt; he points excitedly. The familiar figure, dressed in red, extends his hand. Kara can’t believe that he’s back. Maybe it always was an option, there at the back of her mind. No wonder, with Winn back with her. Still, she hasn’t really allowed herself to think about it, because she isn’t sure how to feel about it. Too many emotions, excitement, trepidation, the joy of seeing an old friend, a fellow hero who fought at her side, the object of her heartbreak, all the mixed feelings she had about their relationship, looking back, all the pride and sadness she felt at his development. And now he’s here, right in front of her, smiling, holding out his hand for her. </p><p>“My name is Mon-El. It’s an honor to meet you, Supergirl.”</p><p>Time freezes for a second. Kara blinks. </p><p>“I’ve heard so much about you. I can’t believe I finally get to meet you.”</p><p>“He’s from Daxam, you know,” Winn interjects. “I mean actual Daxam, from your time.”</p><p>Mon-El patiently waits him out and then smiles again. “I heard you have a problem with 5th-dimensional imps. I think I can offer some personal expertise.” He bows. “We want to offer our support, in the name of the Legion.”</p><p>Kara blinks again. Her eyes seek Alex who mouths a quiet &gt;What the….?&lt; What in Rao’s name is she supposed to do? </p><p>“We, we are glad to have you?”</p><p>*</p><p>“Kara,” Alex grabs her arm. “What are you going to do about this? Should we ask J’onn to…?”</p><p>Kara winces. “This, this is all a bit much,” she admits. Her head is spinning. Where is he, where are they from? Earth 1, where she, where Supergirl did not exist? Is it a result of Lex’s manipulation? Or Myxy’s? </p><p>What is even the right choice in this situation? They were so quick to restore Winn’s memories, just focused on removing the effect of Lex’s manipulation of time, none of them really thought of the consequences. </p><p>“Let me talk to him.”</p><p>*</p><p>She finds him standing on the DEO balcony and it’s like a tiny sting to her heart. Was he drawn to it? Has he been here before, maybe without her being here? </p><p>Kara inches closer, closer to him, to his familiar back, the long cape he used to teach her his new fighting style, the broad shoulders she used to playfully slap and bite down on when they were dating. Before then. Before she gave him up to save the world. Before he came back. Before he broke her heart without meaning to. </p><p>“So,” she says, as she takes her place at his side. “Mon-El huh, from Daxam?”</p><p>He smiles. </p><p>“And of the Legion of Super-Heroes,” she adds quickly. </p><p>“Yes, pretty much.” He looks down on his hands, almost shyly. “Are you surprised? To see a Daxamite here, where I am, being what I am? One from the olden days?”</p><p><i>I’m not surprised to see you here, in this suit,</i> she thinks. Still, she tries to put herself in the mind of somebody different, somebody who has never met him before. “I guess a little.”</p><p>Mon-El gives her a long thoughtful look. To her surprise, he seems neither mad, nor disappointed. “I figured.”</p><p>“It, it’s not right for me to judge you, just because you are from Daxam.” Kara’s worlds, her histories are spinning into each other. Her heart frets at the next question, and still, she can’t help but ask. “So, what made you want to become a hero, Mon-El?”</p><p>His look is hard to read, but he pulls back a bit, as if he’s withdrawing into his past. “I guess I just sort of fell into it. Arriving at the future, having the powers I have.” His gaze drops down to his hands, as if still in wonder. “And you.”</p><p>“Me?”</p><p>His face brightens up. “Yeah, you. I know this must sound silly, but hearing your story, it really meant a lot to me. I’m not gonna lie, I was apprehensive at first, who is this Kryptonian who everybody is so crazy about, but then… I thought about it, I thought about a lot. You came to this world as a stranger, without a home, yet you chose to protect it. It made me want to do that to. Silly, huh?“</p><p>“I don’t think that that is silly at all,” she says carefully. </p><p>“You probably hear this kind of thing a lot.”</p><p>“Not a lot. But sometimes.”</p><p>He shakes his head and straightens up, as if trying to jerk himself out of a thought. “Sorry, if I’m staring. It’s not that you look very different from your statues. In fact, most of them are pretty good, I’m just not used to seeing you so … “</p><p>“Alive?”</p><p>They burst into laughter. “Yeah.” </p><p>His familiar voice trails off, his expression grows more somber. His chest rises from the deep breath he takes. </p><p>“Everything alright?”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. It’s nothing.”</p><p>“Not sure I believe you.”</p><p>He runs his hand through his hair. “I feel so stupid telling you this. I don’t even know you.” </p><p>“Try me.” </p><p>Mon-El tries to smile, to find some fashion to turn this into another light-hearted joke, but she can read in his eyes that his heart isn’t in it. His voice is toneless when he starts up. </p><p>“Do you remember the Phantom Zone?”</p><p>This can’t be good. “I do.” The icy memory of being there, of being <i>stuck</i> there, trapped forces its way to the surface. As always it brings with it the swelling tide of panic, for her to push down as she always needs to. “My mother, she used to banish people there.” A shudder travels through her body. </p><p>His eyes widen in surprise, but he doesn’t comment. </p><p>“This one mission, I got poisoned with led. And there was a bomb to defuse, we were under threat from an entire army of Desolators. I was chosen to fly the bomb into the middle of the enemy ships. It shocked the enemies that the Legion would order such devastation.  And they surrendered. When they thought they had seen my death, instead one of my fellow Legionnaires - her name is Tasmia - had transported me to the Phantom Zone at the last second.”</p><p>Worry lines scar his pretty face. “It wasn’t exactly a great time.”</p><p>One more, the corners of his mouth try to curl upward, desperate to make light of the grim story. “So there I was, stuck in the Phantom Zone, knowing I couldn’t come out and blow the ruse.” His attempt at a smile grows more sardonic. “Being kept alive by the poison in my blood staying frozen in place.”</p><p><i>No,</i> she tells herself and strengthens her grip. She would do this, even if he wasn’t “her” Mon-El, even if he was a stranger.  Tears prickler in her eyes as he turns to meet her gaze. “I’m so sorry,” she mouths. </p><p>He shrugs, but there’s uncertainty in his gaze. “It’s okay.” </p><p>Kara presses her lips together, just barely keeping herself from vomiting all her issues out to him, about Krypton, about Astra, about her mother. “No,” she blurts out. “Nobody should have to experience that.”</p><p>Her heart cramps up at the thought of being stuck there, all alone in the Phantom Zone and before she can stop herself, she has already reached out for him to comfort. Kara freezes. Is this too much? Is she giving herself way? </p><p>Another one of those long, pensive looks, till he shakes himself out of it. “Anyway, time works differently in there. I didn’t know whether I had been there for two years, or twenty, or two hundred. Whether they would come to save me, if they even could. I, I gave up hope. And then… I thought of you.” His hand wanders to his chest as if he’s reaching for something that isn’t there. “Of all the things you taught people, all the things you did. I guess I remember that it happened to you too and you lived through it. And it worked. It helped me. Kept me on the path, waiting for my friends to come and save me.” </p><p>He smiles. “Paragon of Hope I guess.” </p><p>The sudden shift in mood, the gravity of his story, it takes her breath away and she stares at him in stunned silence. </p><p>“You, know,” Mon-El says, his voice taking on a lighter, jokey tone, as he leans in, a little twinkle in his eyes. “There’s a part of me that really wanted to hate you?”</p><p>“Hate me?” She asks weakly.</p><p>He laughs. “Yes. It’s hard to meet somebody so perfect and not be intimidated.”</p><p>“I’m not perfect,” she is quick to interject. “In fact, I’m far from it.” <i>If you only knew.</i></p><p>There’s a gentleness in his voice that feels like it’s ready to wrap her up in a warm blanket. “I’ve only known you for a few hours and you are not like any Kryptonian I’ve ever met.” </p><p>There is one last question that keeps niggling on her brain.</p><p>“The Legion,” she asks. “Do they know about you?”</p><p>“Know about what?” Then it seems he can read the intention in her eyes. “Oh.” His face falls. “My mother. You fought her, didn’t you?”</p><p>How do you face the man whose mother you killed, the man who doesn’t even remember you? “Yes.”</p><p>There is this endless silence between them that she doesn’t know how to break. </p><p>“May I ask, how did she die?”</p><p>Kara blinks. </p><p><i>Unrepentant.</i> </p><p>That’s the first word that pops into her mind. But how do you say that to a son? </p><p>Mon-El looks away. “That bad, huh?” He laughs a very unhappy chuckle. “Doesn’t matter. It’s long in the past.”</p><p>Icy cold hands close around Kara’s heart, his self-deprecating reaction feels only too familiar. “How did you find out?”</p><p>“The records. I looked her up.” <i>So that’s how you found out.</i></p><p>“How did that make you feel? To learn about her?”</p><p>Mon-El pauses, surprised at her question. “Angry. Like I wanted to get drunk and not stop for days.”</p><p>“You never told the Legion about yourself.”</p><p>“I didn’t,” he says, surprisingly ferocious. “It didn’t matter.” He corrects himself. “I didn’t want it to matter.”</p><p>She wants to tell them that it’s alright. That he should tell them. Be honest about his past. That they’ll understand. It tears at her heart that she can’t say that for sure. Not after what Lena did. Not after how she herself reacted. </p><p>“I’m sorry.”</p><p>He looks to her. “I’m glad, you know.”</p><p>“You should be proud of yourself. You’ve come a long way. And you did it all on your own.  I admire you. ”</p><p>This time his smile is wide and genuine. Kara wants to snatch it up and seal it up, to keep is safe for later. “But I didn’t. I had a lot of help. And,” he says cheekily. “I had you to look up to.”</p><p>Something inside Kara breaks and before she can stop herself, she is up against him, clutching him like her life depends on it. Sobbing profusely into his chest. <i>I love you,</i> she thinks. <i>I love you.</i></p><p>It takes a few stunned seconds before his arms close around her and when they do, it’s good, it’s just so good. Her sobs rob her of speech, as she tries in vain to apologize. </p><p>Finally, she manages to tear herself away. Kara stumbles out of his embrace. How on earth is she supposed to explain herself? How is she supposed to escape the worried expression on his face. “Sorry, I’ve just been going through a lot lately.” She balls her hands into fists, nails digging into her palm. </p><p>“You faced your darkest moments and you didn’t fall. B-Be proud. Please, be proud of that.”</p><p>She turns around and flees. </p><p>*</p><p>“I was angry at her.”</p><p>Kara looks up. Mon-El takes the seat beside her at the bar.  </p><p>“You asked me how I felt, when I found out about my mother. What she did after the end of Daxam. I was angry at her. Her whole world gone and yet all she wanted was to get revenge.” He shakes his head. “I was upset. She was holding on to a past that was gone. Maybe one that had never been real. I didn’t want to be like that.”</p><p>He frowns pensively. “I think in a messed up way, I was grateful. To have this chance at a new life. So I didn’t have to be who was anymore.” He looks away, his gaze darts around nervously before he asks, his eyes glued to her in worry as he waits for his answer. “Do you think it’s real?”</p><p>“I do,” Kara says simply. Will she ever be able to stop her eyes from being glued to his face? <i>This is the real you. And I’m so proud to have known you.</i></p><p>He breathes a visible sigh of relief and just like that his smile is back. “You are quite different from what I expected?”</p><p>“How so? No, wait, what did you expect?”</p><p>The conversation, his words, they flow so easily from him, like a playful river, an adorable babbling brook. </p><p>“Well, I know that you’d be charitable. And gracious. And caring. And confident. And you are all of that.” <i>Confident?</i> She sure doesn’t feel like that right now. He tugs a strand of her back behind her ear, as his voice turns soft, almost confused. “But, you look…”</p><p>Kara smiles weakly. “Like I have the world on my shoulders?”</p><p>His smile is broad and warm like Earth’s summer sun. “Yes, you could say that.”</p><p><i>Oh, Rao, this is getting too close, way too close for comfort.</i> “I should leave,” she says hurriedly and stands up. “Lex Luthor, Lena, there’s just a lot to deal with right now.”</p><p>“I understand.” He extends his hand to her. “I was an honor.”</p><p>She takes it. “Same. I’m very proud of you,” she repeats one more time. He blinks in confusion. She has to get out of here. Now. Just a few steps more towards that door and she can leap and take to the skies. </p><p>“I could stay,” he calls after her and she stops dead in her tracks. </p><p>“The Legion, I mean, I could ask them for some time away and stay for a while. Help you out.” <i>Help you shoulder that burden.</i></p><p>Kara turns around slowly. “I don’t think that that’s a good idea.”</p><p>He falters. Takes a deep breath. Then unleashes a torrent of words despite himself. “I know it’s crazy. I feel like I want to talk to you all the time. Like I know you.” <i>But you do.</i> “I feel like I could still learn so much from you.”</p><p>“You don’t need my help.”</p><p>He looks crestfallen. “Yes, right. Sorry, I didn’t mean to impose.”</p><p>“No, no, that’s not what I meant.” </p><p>Confusion races across his face. <i>Dammit,</i> that’s her, putting her foot in her mouth again. “What about the Legion?” she asks, “Won’t they need your help?” </p><p>He laughs. “The Legion currently has eleven thousand five hundred and twenty-three members, twenty-five depending on how you count Triplicate Girl. I think they’ll survive a few weeks without me.” His gaze turns gentle. “Admit it, you just think I won’t be able to survive that long without accidentally spilling my guts with knowledge on the future.”</p><p>Kara can’t help but return his laugh. “That’s exactly what you’d do.”</p><p>He waggles his eyebrows at her playfully. "Would I?"</p><p>And all she can think of that she wants to hear his laugh, no, the way his laugh intermingles with her own, forever.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This was inspired by a conversation where some fans wondered if Mon-El might return, but be from a different universe and not even remember Kara. I guess this can be read as Kara meeting Earth 1 Mon-El, who woke up directly in the future, but the Legion was already established and he became a hero there. It takes some minor inspiration from comicbook canon.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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